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IV.B.9: Occasional Verses

“To Mrs H. G. who Complained That her Visitors Kept Late Hours” (1931)

Material Description and Collation

The manuscript is a loose sheet of unruled rolled paper, watermarked “VERGÉ | SURFIN” around the intertwined letters “CPP”. It is a double-spaced top (original) black ribbon copy.


Title

“To Mrs H. G. who complained that her visitors kept | late hours.”


Measurements

The manuscript measures 26.9 x 20.9 cm.


Contents

The manuscript is a song about Mrs Herbert (Jean) Gorman.


Dating

The manuscript is dated by the typist: “10 March 1931”.


Publication

The manuscript has been reproduced in black and white photo-facsimile on JJA 1.344 and was published in PSW, p. 139.


Notes

Joyce gave this manuscript to Sylvia Beach. The sheet has been repaired with tape, probably by Beach. There is a one-stanza version of this verse in the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, the University of Texas at Austin, which was published in Peggy Guggenheim, Out of This Century (New York: Dial, 1946), p. 130 and in JJII (p. 632n). There is a note with the manuscript in Sylvia Beach’s hand in blue ink that reads: “at Peggy Guggenheim’s | (play on her husband’s | (Holmes) | and her name)”.